During the fueling of vehicles, in particular aircraft used for military purposes, large amounts of fuel must be moved quickly from a hydrant system into the tank of the aircraft or into a tank vehicle. For removing the fuel from the hydrant and filling tank cards or aircraft, it is known to use flexible hoses which, at their ends, are provided with couplings for the connections to the hydrant and aircraft tank. These hoses have nominal diameters of 21/2 to a maximum of 3", as a result of which the handling of these hoses becomes more difficult and complicated as the nominal diameter and length of the hoses are increased. One is therefore forced in the case of lengths above 20 meters to use hoses with smaller diameters since, due to their weight, they can be handled only with great difficulty. A transport of such a hose from one hydrant connection to the next is, as a rule, hardly possible in the unrolled condition, because then the hose must be pulled over the ground, which not only requires a lot of energy, but also adversely affects the durability of the hose. Insofar as the hoses are stored in fueling chutes, they are exposed to additional wear because, when pulling the hoses out of the chute, they are pulled across the edge of the chute. Aside from such mechanical damage, the hoses are also subject to a relatively rapid aging process, so that they must be periodically replaced.
A further disadvantage during the use of a hose is that it can be used only to a limited extent for defueling, and then only when specially manufactured. Moreover, the emptying of the hose is possible only by lifting it, which in practice means a disadvantage. In particular, it has been found during use of hoses, particularly hoses with large nominal diameters, that on one hand the coupling of the hose to the tank coupling is possible only with great effort because of the high weight and that, on the other hand, the tank coupling is subjected to a high moment by the hose. All of the foregoing reasons show that, with conventional fueling systems, the fueling time can hardly be reduced where flexible hoses must be used.
Furthermore, so-called hydrant cars are known which have fueling fittings which, through hoses, can be connected to the hydrant and to the filler-neck coupling of the aircraft. The disadvantage of these hydrant cars is that, on one hand, they require the hoses having the aforementioned disadvantages and, on the other hand, they require external energy for winding up of the hoses and increasing the pressure in hose lines with a small cross-section.
A basic purpose of the invention is to provide a fueling system of the above-mentioned type which has the flexibility required for connecting the filler-neck coupling to the tank coupling with any desired orientation in space, which can be connected without handling difficulties even with a nominal diameter of 4' or more to the tank coupling, which is not exposed to significant wear, which can be transported in a simple manner from one hydrant to another, which requires minimal maintenance, which can be utilized practically indefinitely, which is usable for both refueling and defueling, and which can be stored in a small space during nonuse.